My Hero Academia: Bakugo’s Relationship To All For One, Explained

Key Takeaways

• All For One initially saw Bakugo as insignificant and focused on Midoriya as the final One For All wielder.
• Bakugo’s explosive personality caught Shigaraki’s interest, but his admiration for All Might led to his refusal to join the League of Villains.
• Bakugo’s defiant nature and resemblance to Kudo made All For One lose composure and led to his downfall.

At the start of My Hero Academia, Bakugo Katsuki was not one, which All For One considered a problem with his overarching plan. While Bakugo proved entertaining while nurturing Shigaraki Tomura’s path to villainy, All For One saw Bakugo as insignificant and thus focused on Midoriya Izuku, the final One For All wielder.

However, Bakugo Katsuki is known for defying expectations. After being told he was not worth recognizing, Bakugo proved All For One wrong, causing him to lose composure. But what is the relationship between Bakugo and All For One?

What is Bakugo’s Relationship To All For One?

All For One Paid No Mind to Bakugo and Used Him to Aggravate Midoriya

At the start of My Hero Academia, All For One and Bakugo Katsuki did not have any significance towards one another. This was because All For One had been focusing on nurturing Shigaraki Tomura’s villainous character development as he spent years crafting his ideal vessel.

Additionally, All For One had also been focusing on finding One For All, although at that point, he did not know All Might had transferred the Quirk to a new wielder. It also goes to say that Bakugo was unaware of the entity called All For One, and many of the general public were unaware of this villainous being.

However, this changed when Shigaraki became interested in Bakugo Katsuki after the USJ Incident and Sports Festival. Bakugo Katsuki has an explosive personality unlike any Pro Hero or aspiring Hero. Due to Bakugo’s disregard for others’ feelings in terms of his speech, is what made Shigaraki take an interest in him and thus attempt to recruit him after kidnapping him during the Forest Training Camp.

All For One continued to give resources to Shigaraki, which nurtured him as a villain and turned him into his ideal vessel. This is why he paid no mind when Shigaraki wanted to recruit the explosive Bakugo Katsuki for the League of Villains. Unfortunately for Shigaraki, Bakugo admires All Might and thus refutes the recruitment. This soon made Shigaraki lose interest in Bakugo, much to Bakugo’s dismay.

All For One and Shigaraki continue to lose interest in Bakugo as their focus shifts to Midoriya Izuku, the final wielder of One For All. This would then push Bakugo to work harder on perfecting his Quirk and proving that he is a powerhouse worth considering.

Unfortunately for Bakugo, All For One and Shigaraki soon learn that Bakugo is Midoriya Izuku’s weakness. This occurred when Bakugo was impaled by one of Shigaraki’s Quirks after pushing Izuku out of the way during the Paranormal Liberation War arc. This causes Midoriya to rage and awaken another Quirk within One For All, giving Shigaraki and All For One the knowledge needed to break his willpower.

Why Did All For One Grow to Hate Bakugo During the Final War?

Bakugo’s Defying Nature Reminds All For One of Kudo, the Second One For All Weidler

Once the Final War began, to All For One, Bakugo Katsuki served as a means to hurt Midoriya Izuku. Midoriya was supposed to be present during the battle on UA’s flying fortress; however, Himiko Toga intervened, which left the Pro Heroes at a tremendous disadvantage.

During the battle without Midoriya, Shigaraki and All For One could cause critical injuries without the One For All user present. These injuries also included a fatal wound placed on Bakugo after he caught Shigaraki off guard with his awakened speed and power. This is also when Midoriya entered the battle and found Bakugo near death, as All For One and Shigaraki gloated about Bakugo’s presumed death. Midoriya was also about to rage again; however, Mirio calmed him down, proving that Bakugo was his weakness.

However, the tide of the battle began to turn when Bakugo was revived and returned to the battlefield. Once Bakugo returned, he had a newfound ambition which manifested in his eyes. This was when All For One began to notice similarities between Bakugo and the second One For All user, Kudo, in Chapter 406.

But he makes it look like he carried that man’s will!

The second wielder of One For All, Kudo, was the person who saved Yoichi from All For One. All For One always believed that Yoichi was his property and that his younger brother belonged to him. However, All For One began to feel hatred towards Kudo, the man who defied him by taking away his brother.

Bakugo is not related to Kudo, as All For One exterminated his entire bloodline, including any woman and children who were close to him. However, his defiant eyes, similar to Kudo’s, made All For One believe that Bakugo carried his will. This caused All For One to lose his composure and believe Bakugo was Kudo, thus enraging him to use one of his most powerful attacks, Full Factor Release, just to take down Bakugo.

Unfortunately for All For One, Bakugo’s Explosion Quirk was able to take him down, along with some meddling from Hawks, who had his Quirk stolen. Although All For One and Bakugo had no significant relationship at the start of the My Hero Academia, Bakugo proved to be a defying factor that put a stop to him.

My Hero Academia is now available to stream on Crunchyroll.